Belarus
) |common_name = Belarus |status = |image_flag = Flag of Belarus (1918, 1991-1995).svg |alt_flag = Flag |flag_border = yes |image_coat = Coat of Arms of Belarus (1991).svg |alt_coat = |symbol_type = Coat of Arms |national_motto = |englishmotto = |national_anthem = "March of the Warriors" |royal_anthem = |image_map = Belarus 1993.png |loctext = |alt_map = |map_caption = |image_map2 = |alt_map2 = |map_caption2 = |capital = |largest_city = capital |official_languages = |national_languages = |regional_languages = |languages_type = Recognized minority language |languages = , , , |languages_sub = no |ethnic_groups = |ethnic_groups_year = |nationalities = |religion = |demonym = Belarusian |government_type = |leader_title1 = President |leader_name1 = Sergei Gaidukevich |leader_title2 = Prime Minister |leader_name2 = Syarhei Rumas |leader_title6 = |leader_name6 = |legislature = Rada |upper_house = Council of the Republic |lower_house = House of Representatives |sovereignty_type = Establishment history |sovereignty_note = | established_event1 = }} | established_date1 = 987 | established_event2 = | established_date2 = c. 1236 | established_event3 = | established_date3 = 1 July 1569 | established_event4 = Russian Empire | established_date4 = 1795 | established_event5 = Independence from the Russian SFSR | established_date5 = 25 March 1918 | established_event6 = | established_date6 = 18 March 1921 |established_event7 = |established_date7 = 15 March 1994 |area_rank = |area_magnitude = |area = |area_km2 = |area_sq_mi = |area_footnote = |percent_water = |area_label = |area_label2 = |area_data2 = |population_estimate = |population_estimate_rank = |population_estimate_year = |population_census = |population_census_year = |population_density_km2 = |population_density_sq_mi = |population_density_rank = |nummembers = |currency = (Bm) |currency_code = |time_zone = |utc_offset = +2 |time_zone_DST = |utc_offset_DST = +3 |DST_note = |antipodes = |date_format = |drives_on = right |cctld = |iso3166code = |calling_code = +375 |image_map3 = |alt_map3 = |footnote_a = |footnote_b = |footnote_h = |footnotes = }} Belarus ( : Biełaruś), officially the Republic of Belarus ( : Respublika Biełaruś), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe bordered by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital and most populous city is Minsk. Over 40% of its 207,600 square kilometres (80,200 sq mi) is forested. Its major economic sectors are service industries and manufacturing. Until the 20th century, different states at various times controlled the lands of modern-day Belarus, including the Principality of Polotsk (11th to 14th centuries), the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Russian Empire. In the aftermath of the 1917 Russian Revolution, Belarus declared independence as the Belarusian People's Republic. History Early history Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth 'Russian Empire' and crossing the )]] The union between Poland and Lithuania ended in 1795 with the Third Partition of Poland by Imperial Russia, Prussia, and Austria. The Belarusian territories acquired by the Russian Empire under the reign of Catherine II were included into the Belarusian Governorate ( : Белорусское генерал-губернаторство) in 1796 and held until their occupation by the German Empire during the World War. Under Nicholas I and Alexander III the national cultures were repressed. Policies of Polonization changed by Russification, which included the return to Orthodox Christianity of Belorusian Uniates. Belarusian language was banned in schools while in neighboring Samogitia primary school education with Samogitian literacy was allowed. In a Russification drive in the 1840s, Nicholas I prohibited use of the Belarusian language in public schools, campaigned against Belarusian publications and tried to pressure those who had converted to Catholicism under the Poles to reconvert to the Orthodox faith. In 1863, economic and cultural pressure exploded in a revolt, led by Konstanty Kalinowski. After the failed revolt, the Russian government reintroduced the use of Cyrillic to Belarus in 1864 and no documents in Belarusian were permitted by the Russian government until 1905. Independence During the negotiations of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Belarus declared independence under German occupation on 25 March 1918, forming the Belarusian People's Republic. The choice of the name was probably based the fact that the educated core of the newly formed government was educated in the tsardom universities, with a corresponding education around the ideology of West-Russianism. Despite the territory continually being dominated by the German Imperial Army and the remnants of Imperial Russian Army in the final year of the World War, and then the Bolshevik Red Army. The German administration allowed schools with Belarusian language, previously banned in Russia; a number of Belarusian schools were created but the economy was heavily influenced by the Germans as part of the Mitteleuropa plan. Belarusian military units started to form within the disorganized Imperial Russian Army already in 1917. By the time Belarus declared independence, about 11,000 people, mostly volunteers, served in the Army of the Belarusian People's Republic. General Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz supported the Government of the People's Republic and openly positioned his army as a Belarusian national army, also acting as the first President of the Belarusian Provisional Government. The frontiers between Belarus and the former Russian Empire were not recognized by the other world powers. In its Third Constituent Charter, the following territories were claimed for Belarus: Mogilev Governorate (province), as well as Belarusian parts of Minsk Governorate, Grodno Governorate (including Belastok), Vilna Governorate, Vitebsk Governorate, and Smolensk Governorate, and parts of bordering governorates populated by Belarusians, rejecting the then split of the Belarusian lands between Germany and Russia. The areas were claimed because of a Belarusian majority or large minority (as in Grodno and Vilna Governorate), although there were also numbers of Lithuanians, Poles and people speaking mixed varieties of Belarusian, Lithuanian and Polish, as well as many Jews, mostly in towns and cities (in some towns they made up a majority). Finally the Treaty of Minsk established Belarus' boundaries, gaining territory from Soviet Russia that was outside the Brest-Litovsk lines but lost Vilna to Lithuania and Ukraine. After a variety of delays, the first presidential elections took place on 8 January 1922, and Piotra Krečeŭski was elected president of Belarus. For several years, the national culture and language enjoyed a significant boost of revival. Governance Category:Belarus